Tribute to fell walker killed in ridge plunge

The wife of a walker who fell to his death on a Lake District mountain has paid tribute to her "soulmate".

Philip Ashton, 43, from Haydock, Merseyside, was walking along Swirral Edge on 3117ft Helvellyn when the accident happened on December 30.

Three days earlier, a 39-year-old man also fell to his death from Swirral Edge when he plunged through a cornice of snow.

In a statement, Mr Ashton's wife Caroline, said: "He was my soulmate. Life was never dull... he could make anyone laugh and was loved by so many."

The couple had been married eight years and have a son, Thomas, five.

Mrs Ashton said: "He has left a hole in our lives that can never be filled."